Improved wash-boiler



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v Letters Patent N 94,129,- datell A'ug'u'st 24, 1869.

mrnovnn WASH-BOILER.

'lhe Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part 0f the same..

-THM.;-

To all :whom it mag/concern Be it known that I, NATHANIEL PARKS, of Mohawk,

in the 'town of German Flats, county of Herkimer, and

State of N ew York, have invented a' new and useful Improvement in Clothes lashing-Boilers; .and I do .hereby declare that the followingr is a full and exact description thereof, 'reference being had to lthe accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon, in which identical lettersrefer to similar or identical parts.

'My invention consists in fitting a suitable perforated diaphragm toa common clothes washing-boiler, whereby theprocess of washing clothing is greatly facili-.- tated, and the' labor usually bestowed thereon greatly abridged.

To enable others skilled inthe art to make and use my invention,-I will describe its construction and'op'- eration. f

Referring to the accompanying sheet of drawings- Figure l is a clothes washing-boiler, of the ordinary pattern, supposed to be from eighteen to twenty inches deep, exhibited inside elevation;

'lhe perforated diaphragm, mentioned above, occupies a position within vthe boiler, about four or iive inches from the top of the boiler, as shown by the dotted lines in fig. 1.

Figure 2 exhibits the diaphragm, as seen from above.

Figure 3-exhibits the diaphragm as it might appear vin detail, as it is represented in dotted lines fin fig. l.

Figure 4 is intended to exhibit, in outline and in section,'an ordinary boiler, only about fourteen -inches deep, made deeper by soldering on varound its wired top a suitable extension, increasing its depth about four or live inches; at the same time the original top of the boiler remains as a ledge or projection for the support of the diaphragm, as is sufficiently apparentiu the figure.

Figure 5 is intended, in outline and in section, to represent a boiler originally of suitable depth, (from eighteen to twenty inches,)V in which a suitable ledge o'r projection hasbeen soldered for the support of the diaphragm. In figs. 4 and 5 are represented projections F F,

' on the inside of the boiler alittle distance above lthe ledge, on' which the diaphragm rests. i The projections F F are in pairs, a pair on each of the two sides of the boiler, within. h'lheyserve the purpose of securing the diaphragm in its place, so'that it may not be accidentally displaced.

As represented in figs, 2 and 3, the diaphragm is made of a suitable piece of board about an'inch thick, to which the letter B has reference.

The outline of the diaphragm should conform tothe internal dimensions of tlie boiler to which it is to he adapted, so nearly that it may be readily inserted .therein or removed therefrom, when necessary.

' lts position in the boiler has 'already been sufieiently shown.

On the upper side ofthe diaphraginare shown two i bars, O G, made of suitable wood, pivoted, by means.

of a screw, through the centre of each, as shown in iig. 2;

L"lhere'are also-several holes, each about an inch in diameter, (varying iu number from four to six or eight, according to the size -of the boiler,) made through the diaphragm, and on the underside of the diaphragm each hole is bridged by a curved strip of metal, all of which will be understood by the parts in figs'. 2 and 3, on or near which the letters I) D D are placed.

. On one side or margin of the diaphragm are out two notches, E E, figs. 2 and 3,0fsuitab1e depth and width to pass 'the projections F F,shown in figs. 4 and 5, andalso in dotted lines in fig. 1.

To insert the diaphragm in its place in the boiler, its notched side is suficiently elevated to permit 'the other side to be placed in its proper position, after. I

which the notched side readily drops in its place.

The bars C C are then turned so that they reach directly across the diapln'agm, from one side of the boiler to the other, locking-the diaphragm securely in itsplace bypassing underthe'prqiections F F, on each side of' tlie boiler. V

To remove the diaphragm fromk the boiler simply reverses these operations.

pcratiou. l Clothes that are to be cleansed are-first freely rubbed with soap where needed, to insure detergent action,

vWater or suds sufficient. to cover thecontents of the boiler may then be turned in, the diaphragm introduced and locked in its place. l

Heat may then be applied, and the contents of thek boiler boiled briskly for from forty to eighty minutes.

Very badly soiled clothes'may, in some cases, require longer boiling.

During the boiling-process, the' cvolutionof steam causes the water or suds topercolate rapidly through -the clothes.4

The bridged -holes D D D, vin the diaphragm, permit the water to Arise freely above the diaphragm as it is forced, by the steam, through the clothing, while,l at the same time, in the process of ebullition, the steam generated heaves and surges the clothes to be cleansed in the space left under the diaphragm, so as materially yto aid the cleansing-process.

The water that rises above the diaphragm losing a portion of its beat, triokles back into the lower part of the boiler and eondenses steam, producing an oceasional vacuum, into which all the water above the diaphragm is rapidly forced by atmospheric pressure.

Vhen the cleansing-process has been snflioiently continued in the boiler,- the boiler is lifted from the lire, or the re is permitted to vsnbside, when all the water above the diaphragm returns to the lower part ofthe boiler. 'lhe diaphragm may then be removed.

The cleansing process may then beA completed by a subsequent rinsing of the clothes, requiring, perhaps, in a few instances, a slightdegree of rubbing.

By the mode of applying a diaphragm to a clotheswashing boiler herein described, itis believed a more complicated means.

C' lai-m.

YVhat I claim as my invention and improvement in wash-boilers, is v The bridge or curved strips D D D, in combination with the diaphragm B and boiler A, and the device for fastening, C C, F F F, aniLE E E, as shown and described. f

NATHANIEL PARKS.

Vitnesses z JAMES LEWIS l J. H. ORIM. 

